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Current detectors rely on passive sampling by swabbing hands or suitcases and then running the sample through a chemical detector, typically an ion mobility spectrometer.

Wand-like vapour detectors are more mobile but unless the detector scans immediately above it, the chemical signature of a bomb-making ingredient will not be detected.

So researchers turned to nature's best chemical detectors - the dog.

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The detector is based on a labrodor's nose

Five times a second, man's best friend inhales a nose full of aromas for decoding by some 300 million receptor cells.

Their incredible air-sampling efficiency is one reason why the dog is such an amazing chemical sampler

Mechanical engineer and fluid dynamicist Matthew Staymates

sing 3D printing the external features of a female Labrador Retriever's nose, including the shape, direction, and spacing of the nostrils was replicated.

Dog sniffing was then mimicked by moving air through the artificial nose at the same rate that a dog inhales and exhales.

Imaging used in aeronautical engineering viewed the flow of air around objects while high-speed video confirmed the imitation nose could indeed sniff much like the real thing.

Mechanical engineer and fluid dynamicist Matthew Staymates at the National Institute of Standards and Technology said: "The dog is an active aerodynamic sampling system that literally reaches out and grabs odorants.

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The device is said to be ten time better at sniffing out drugs and bombs than a dog

"It uses fluid dynamics and entrainment to increase its aerodynamic reach to sample vapours at increasingly large distances.

"Their incredible air-sampling efficiency is one reason why the dog is such an amazing chemical sampler."

"It's just a piece of the puzzle.

"There's lots more to be learned and to emulate as we work to improve the sensitivity, accuracy and speed of trace-detection technology."

The study published in the journal Scientific Reports confirmed the air-sampling performance of their "actively sniffing" artificial dog nose against trace-detection devices that rely on continuous suction.

Bizarre smuggling attempts

Tue, March 29, 2016

Criminals will go to extreme lengths to earn money, here are some of the most bizarre drug smuggle attempts, from parcels hid inside an ambulance and drugs smuggled inside a wig.